Category Archives: Video

Saturday Matinee: Zeitgeist

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Source: Top Documentary Films

Documentary Zeitgeist: The Movie, authored by Peter Joseph, reflects on the the myth of Jesus, the attacks of 9/11, and the Federal Reserve Bank as well as on a number of conspiracy theories related to those three main topics. It was released free online via Google Video in June 2007. A remastered version was presented as a global premiere on November 10, 2007 at the 4th Annual Artivist Film Festival & Artivist Awards. The film has attracted significant public interest.

If you dig deep enough into any one of the issues and resolutions presented in the film you’ll find that there are actual facts to support each one of them. We have been lied to! It’s as simple as that. We need to wake up on a planetary level and work towards a fossil fuel free planet. We can’t afford to wait and debate whether “God” exists or not. Stop nitpicking the particulars and act. We’re running out of time and most importantly resources. If there is a God, I doubt he likes this use of money and the monetary system and how those in power (with money) have used it to benefit only themselves and further destroy the environment and all life on this planet.

Think about it. Six corporations, (mostly made up of families who have married each other for years) are determining the fate of the human race and the planet, through their advertising money spent and blatant misuse and abuse of power. Are we going to stand here like sheep? Or are we going to work together and help change the future of humankind for the betterment of all?

We choose to be greedy, we choose to be hateful, we chose to segregate each other into categories, we chose to twist the rules, omit a word, and judge where none of us has a right to judge. We can only do the best we can. It’s not even about faith really, it’s about being deeply human. How we choose to deal with our humanity is just a choice. We all have the same finish line to look forward to. Faith is what you choose to hope for after you cross it.

Saturday Matinee: Orson Welles Short Double Feature

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Orson Welles Narrates Animations of Plato’s Cave and Kafka’s “Before the Law,” Two Parables of the Human Condition

By Colin Marshall

Source: Open Culture

You’re held captive in an enclosed space, only able faintly to perceive the outside world. Or you’re kept outside, unable to cross the threshold of a space you feel a desperate need to enter. If both of these scenarios sound like dreams, they must do so because they tap into the anxieties and suspicions in the depths of our shared subconscious. As such, they’ve also proven reliable material for storytellers since at least the fourth century B.C., when Plato came up with his allegory of the cave. You know that story nearly as surely as you know the ancient Greek philosopher’s name: a group of human beings live, and have always lived, deep in a cave. Chained up to face a wall, they have only ever seen the images of shadow puppets thrown by firelight onto the wall before them.

To these isolated beings, “the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.” So Orson Welles tells it in this 1973 short film by animator Dick Oden. In his timelessly resonant voice that complements the production’s hauntingly retro aesthetic, Wells then speaks of what would happen if a cave-dweller were to be unshackled.

“He would be much too dazzled to see distinctly those things whose shadows he had seen before,” but as he approaches reality, “he has a clearer vision.” Still, “will he not be perplexed? Will he not think that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?” And if brought out of the cave to experience reality in full, would he not pity his old cavemates? “Would he not say, with Homer, better to be the poor servant of a poor master and to endure anything rather than think as they do and live after their manner?”

Plato’s cave wasn’t the first parable of the human condition Welles narrated. Just over a decade earlier, he engaged pinscreen animator Alexandre Alexeieff (he of Night on Bald Mountain and and “The Nose,” previously featured here on Open Culture) to illustrate his reading of Franz Kafka’s story “Before the Law.” The law, in Kafka’s telling, is a building, and before that building stands a guard. “A man comes from the country, begging admittance to the law,” says Welles. “But the guard cannot admit him. May he hope to enter at a later time? That is possible, said the guard.” Yet somehow that time never comes, and he spends the rest of his life awaiting admission to the law. “Nobody else but you could ever have obtained admittance,” the guard admits to the man, not long before the man expires of old age. “This door was intended only for you! And now, I’m going to close it.”

“Before the Law” describes a grimly absurd situation, as does Welles’ The Trial, the film to which it serves as an introduction. Adapted from another work of Kafka’s, specifically his best-known novel, it also concerns itself with the legal side of human affairs, at least on the surface. But when it becomes clear that the crime with which its bureaucrat protagonist Josef K. has been charged will never be specified, the story plunges into an altogether more troubling realm. We’ve all, at one time or another, felt to some degree like Joseph K., persecuted by an ultimately incomprehensible system, legal, social, or otherwise. And can we help but feel, especially in our highly mediated 21st century, like Plato’s immobilized human, raised in darkness and made to build a worldview on illusions? As for how to escape the cave — or indeed to enter the law — it falls to each of us individually to figure out.

 

Saturday Matinee: Storm Center

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Source: Wikipedia

Storm Center is a 1956 American film noir drama directed by Daniel Taradash. The screenplay by Taradash and Elick Moll focuses on what were at the time two very controversial subjects – Communism and book banning – and took a strong stance against censorship. The film stars Bette Davis, and was the first overtly anti-McCarthyism film to be produced in Hollywood.

Synopsis

Alicia Hull is a widowed small town librarian dedicated to introducing children to the joy of reading. In exchange for fulfilling her request for a children’s wing, the city council asks her to withdraw the book The Communist Dream from the library’s collection. When she refuses to comply with their demand, she is fired, and branded as a subversive. Especially upset by this is young Freddie Slater, a boy with a deep love of books whom Alicia has closely mentored.

Judge Ellerbe feels Alicia has been treated unfairly, and calls a town meeting, hoping to rally support for her. However, ambitious attorney and aspiring politician Paul Duncan, who is dating assistant librarian Martha Lockeridge, undermines those efforts by publicly revealing Alicia’s past associations with organizations that turned out to be Communist fronts. Alicia notes that she resigned as soon as she found out the true nature of the organizations, but Duncan’s incendiary revelations result in only a handful of people showing up to the meeting. Those that do attend express concern about being branded Communists themselves if they stand with Alicia. Upon hearing their concerns, Alicia informs the meeting that she no longer wishes to fight the city council, and wants to let the matter drop. With no opposition to her removal mounted, virtually the entire town eventually turns against Alicia.

Freddie, convinced by the opinions of others, particularly his narrow-minded father, that Alicia is a bad person, is unable to handle the resulting feelings of betrayal. He becomes increasingly fearful even of books themselves, and he begins to break down completely, culminating in his setting fire to the library. His actions cause the residents to have a change of heart, and they ask Alicia to return and supervise the construction of a new building. Alicia agrees, lamenting her earlier decision not to fight and vowing never again to allow a book to be removed from the library.

Saturday Matinee: ShadowGate

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Who is Millie Weaver, why was she arrested ahead of ‘Shadow Gate’ release? Internet helps raise $13K of $20K

The arrest comes in the wake of her documentary release on the topic of the US ‘shadow government’ which was all set to be screened on YouTube

By Jyotsna Basotia

Source: Meaww.com

In a shocking piece of news, investigative reporter Millie Weaver and her husband were arrested at their home. The arrest comes in the wake of her documentary release on the topic of the US “shadow government” which was all set to be screened on YouTube as she had teased in her last tweet. While there seems to be no confirmation as to why she was taken by the officers, a string of speculative theories seem to have popped up on social media.

Born on February 6, 1991, in San Bernardino, California, United States, Weaver was an aspiring actress and singer who went on to be a political activist and reporter. She is a mother to a four-year-old son and a nine-month-old daughter, as per a report from YHStars.com. Not just that, the same report says that the 29-year-old was named as one Newsmax’s “30 Most Influential Republicans Under 30.”

On August 11, 2020, she posted the trailer with the caption: “The ObamaGate scandal only scratches the surface. This may the biggest whistleblowing event to date. Official Trailer – Shadow Gate.” After the shocking news, the tweet went viral with over 7,000 retweets and 8,000 likes in a few hours. The narration in the trailer says, “Both parties are equally guilty in what should turn out to be an even bigger scandal. Shadow Gate the tactical and operational role the shadow government played behind the scenes carrying out the coup against President Trump.” The trailer also detailed that the documentary would detail who the real puppetmasters and string-pullers are.

As per a USSA News report, her documentary ‘Shadow Gate’ was all set to tell the tale of two whistleblowers who claim that a secretive network of government and military insiders have ‘backdoor’ access to intelligence agencies and information on elite personalities including politicians which would be used to blackmail powerful people. Not just that, the film was also set to show how military psychological warfare programs are used against people through mainstream corporate media and social media.

According to the same report, one of the whistleblowers in the film named Tore was recently suspended by Twitter. When reporter Spiro Skouras tried getting in touch with the Portage County Sheriff’s Office, they confirmed Weaver is in their custody and said that she was served a secret indictment. Currently, she is being charged for tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, and domestic violence. As per the Sheriff’s Office, she is being held without bond and will remain in custody over the weekend until she appears before a judge on Monday morning, August 17.

The news first surfaced on Twitter when Weaver posted a video of officers knocking her door and announcing her arrest in front of crying children. When she asked the reason, she was told that a “Grand Jury indicted her for burglary”. The one-minute 50-second clip soon made its way to Twitter and was posted by several social media users.

https://twitter.com/MarkDice/status/1294352410693967872

Cassandra Fairbanks shared a fundraiser on Twitter and tried to seek help from people for her release. The GoFundMe page reads: “Millie Weaver, the popular independent journalist, was arrested today in a shocking raid. No information is publicly available, and in cell phone footage of the arrest, Millie repeatedly asks what the arrest is for, with police providing no answers. Whatever the case, we know Millie will need financial help — to pay for a lawyer and other expenses.”

It further adds: “I have just spoken with a work colleague of Millie, and with her friend Tore, who have given me their approval to launch this fundraiser. They confirm that it will not conflict with any other actions to help Millie. All proceeds will be transferred to Millie or her designate as soon as she’s out of custody.” At the time of writing, $13,880 has been raised of $20,000 goal and in an update, the organizer Ezra Levant posted: “I have been in touch with Millie’s friend Tore about connecting with legal counsel. I won’t disclose anything confidential, but it is my goal to help support any legal effort, including (if applicable) paying bail.”

Wild theories started to spiral out of nowhere, many of which said that she was arrested for allegedly obtaining leaked government documents. However, there is no confirmed report or news and MEA World Wide cannot independently verify these claims or allegations.